MONDAI OCTOBER 14,2019
Atienza's war on water firms
LIKE a man consuned by his own
mission to wage war against corPo-
rate greed, Buhay Party Liat ReP.
Lito Atienza is relentless in his cam-
paign to make the water comPany
concessionaires comply with the
Clean Water Act. This, after one ma-
jor newspaper banner headlined his
case against concessionaire Manila
Water while the other dailies also ran
the story on their front pages.
Atienza is aghast that insGad of
complying with the Supreme Court
order to implement the clean sewage
component in their contract as gonc€s-
sionaires, Manila Water is now threat-
ening consumers with higher rates.
'This is the height ofarrogance ifnot
downright insensitivity," fumed Atien-
za, suggesting that th* higb court cite
Matrila Water in contempt and double
its Pl.8-billion fine for attempting to
pass on their fne to consumers,
"Ib increase"its raes bD, 780 perc€d is
corporae greed exemplifie{" said Atien-
za. Neglect to sepamte tmic anrd chemical
wa$€ from wder sewage is halming tle
e,nvircnrnent as he pointed out the fi$kill
in las Pinas and Faranaque.
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources officials who inspected the
dead fish washed ashore.said the cause
was not dynamite fishing but plain and
pure pollution..
"Manila Bay is now one big cess-
pool," said Atienza, adding that no
amount of cleanup will turn the tide
around and restore it to its lormer pris-
tine condition.
Atienza said Manila Water has the
fun<is to connect pipes to a water treat-
ment faciliry It did not do. this. And yet
the Ayalas who operate Manila Water
have the funds for their other busi-
ness ventures like condominiums and
shopping malls. If operating a'conces-
sionaire and distributing water to thou-
sands cif households is not profitable,
then they should get out of it, Atienza
\ PAee-Aq'
-f
said, urging the governm€nt to cancel
the water concessionaires' contmcts
and take over their op€ration. He said
that water a natural resource should
never be privatized and given to big
business vrhose sole priority is profit.
The former Envirotrment and Nat-
ural ResourcBs Secr€tary under then
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
vowed to pursue his case against Ma-
nila Water when Congress resumes its
session in November. He found an ally
in Senator Sherwin Gatchalisn wbo is
now espousing the cause for a water
treatment facility.
li corporot, greed
exemplified, he saYs.ll
Atienza also said Manila \[ater has
been collecting money from consum-
ers and business €stablishmerts for
wCstewatgr tr€atment for the past 22
years aside frorn the rcgular fees for
water consumption. Manila Water had
enough time to construct a waste wa-
ter treatment frcility as stipulated in its
concessionaire contract-but did not.
whv?
So, where did that water treatment
money go? Probably to other Ayala
proj€cts with a fasfer r€tum on invest-
ment. We hope not, because that would
be to the detriment of its aotual pur.
pose for a wastewater treatment frcil-
ity, which is for the good of commu-
nities nationwide. What is happening
now is that both Manila Bay and La-
guna de Bay have become big rec€pta-
cles for ioxic waste and other garbage
that result in fishkill and other diseases
that rake their toll on the people. Is it
any wonder tlat polio is back-after an
absence ofthree decades, with dengue
and the African Swine Fevdr adding to
the people's problems?
Indeed, one business company's ne-
glect is the whole country's misery.
Thankfully, we have legislators like
Lito Atienza looking after our wel-
fare. May his and Senator Sherwin
Gatchalian's tribe incr€ase.